Land Use

Environmental Criticism for the Seattle 2035 Comprehensive Plan

The Seattle 2035 will manage growth for one of the fastest growing cities in the country. But shouldn't it also mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions of this famously eco-conscious city?

May 28, 2015 - Publicola

Tulsa Arkansas River

Planners Across America: Dawn Warrick On Implementing Tulsa's Comprehensive Plan

In this interview for the "Planners Across America" series, Tulsa Planning Director Dawn Warrick describes the implementation process for the PlaniTulsa Comprehensive Plan.

May 27, 2015 - Josh Stephens

$400 Million Needed for Oakland NFL Stadium Deal Lacks Political Support

One city is prioritizing fiscal sanity over a new football stadium—at least for now.

May 27, 2015 - SFGate

Home For Sale Signs

Reports Surveys Property Tax Burdens in all 50 States

The annual "50-State Property Tax Comparison Study" offers a thorough resource for understanding the role of property taxes in fiscal responsibility at the municipal level.

May 27, 2015 - At Lincoln House

Deep Ellum

Left Behind in Dallas' Suburban Boom: the Urban Core

Some planners and government officials in Dallas are concerned about the suburban boom occurring in counties north of Dallas. The reasons why are reminiscent of the Rust Belt in the 1960s.

May 25, 2015 - The Dallas Morning News

Oregon Moves Forward With 'Unprecedented' Plans for Coastal Golf Course

Inside the deal that could open a huge swatch of highly protected Oregon coastal land to a developer with plans for a golf course.

May 25, 2015 - The Oregonian

Drought Exacerbates Conflict Between Cattle and Almonds in California's Central Valley

Sasha Khokha takes an in-depth look at the conflicting interests of cattle and almond businesses in California's Central Valley.

May 24, 2015 - KQED

The Massive Redevelopment Plans for North St. Louis Failed—What Next?

Detroit has Dan Gilbert, and for a few years, it looked like St. Louis had Paul McKee. Now that McKee's massive plans for the redevelopment of North St. Louis have failed expectations, what has been lost and what, potentially, can still be gained?

May 23, 2015 - St. Louis Business Journal

Happy Hour Anyone? Mapping Liquor Licenses and Crime in Dallas

Questions of how to regulate the sale of alcohol, how to enforce public intoxication, and whether or not alcohol leads to crime can quickly divide communities into factions. So what evidence exists to help cities answer these questions?

May 22, 2015 - The Dallas Morning News

Arlington Virginia

What the New Census Data Reveals About the Urban Suburban Divide

Newly released population data provides entre for a discussion about the nature of cities.

May 22, 2015 - FiveThirtyEight

Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

75 Cities Ranked by ParkScore 2015

The Trust for Public Land released its 2015 ParkScore today, ranking the 75 largest U.S. cities on the metrics of acreage, facilities and investment, and access.

May 20, 2015 - Trust for Public Land

Obama Administration Policy Announced to Protect Honeybee Habitat

At scale, the secret life of bees provides $15 billion in benefits to the country's agriculture industry each year.

May 20, 2015 - The Washington Post

Sprinkler Sprawl

It's Time to Talk About National Minimum Urban Density Standards

What would a policy that requires development to make more efficient use of land and resources (like water, for instance) look like?

May 20, 2015 - Eliot Allen

Google's Loss is LinkedIn's Gain in Silicon Valley

The city of Mountain View chose to allot most of the redevelopment rights in its much sought-after North Bayshore area not to the city's largest employer and taxpayer but to LinkedIn's more conventional proposal.

May 19, 2015 - The New York Times - Bits

'General Welfare' for the Next Generation

The "health, safety, and general welfare" of our communities are poorly served by the outcomes of the status quo.

May 19, 2015 - PlaceShakers

Busy Downtown

On the Creative Neighborhood's Two Basic Forms

Richard Florida discusses a study comparing the neighborhoods that house "creative" industries. Science and tech tends to favor low-density office parks, while arts and cultural industries prefer mixed-use urban districts.

May 19, 2015 - CityLab

San Diego Gaslamp District

Stiff Opposition to San Diego Mixed-Use Mega-Project

In February, the city council approved One Paseo, a 1.4 million-square-foot mix of offices, residences, retail, and entertainment. The project's detractors have forced a referendum, putting a kink in San Diego's urbanist planning ambitions.

May 18, 2015 - ULI Urban Land Magazine

7 Lessons in Park Planning from the APA National Conference

What’s new in environmental planning, the value of multi-functional urban parks, and the importance of providing open spaces for an aging population discussed at a recent conference stood out to planner Clement Lau.

May 18, 2015 - UrbDeZine

Topographical Map

USGS Map Archive Now Easily Accessible

The U.S. Geological Survey has introduced topoView, an intuitive map-based tool making it far simpler to search and access its archive of 178,000 topographical maps dating from 1880 to 2010.

May 18, 2015 - CityLab

Controversial Wyoming Law Prohibits Data Collection on Open Lands

It might take a law degree to separate fact and fiction about the law, but Wyoming has gone to new lengths to limit the access of researchers, including Jane and John Q Public, to data found in open spaces.

May 17, 2015 - Slate

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.